Attack on Titan: The Variant
by v3r7ex
Summary: An alternative version of the story, asking the question 'what if the Survey Corps (including the Elites, who've survived in this version) had been thrust into battle with Titans just after their first struggle with the Female Titan and before the battle behind Wall Sina'. Here's hoping y'all enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Year 850, near the Forest of Giant Trees, aftermath of the 57****th**** Expedition Beyond the Walls**...

"Titans approaching! Three ten meters, a fifteen meter and a Variant!" Krista Lenz howled from the ramparts of the temporary Survey Corps base, her keen eyes glimpsing the rapid approach of what looked like ugly piles of skin with arms and legs and...mouths. Teeth. The Titans thundered toward the forest-flanked wall, led by the hideous deformity that was a Variant. It's long, scrawny legs and thick, twisted arms bent at disgusting angles, and its face was one even a mother couldn't love. If Titans had mothers, which, judging by the lack of reproductive organs, they did not.

"Ah! A Variant! If only we could capture it...!" Hanji. Krista glanced down from the wall at the Titan-crazy loon below, wide-eyed. The bespectacled witch had been picking her horse's hoof on the overgrown cobblestone street below when she'd heard the news and flung her pick to the winds in excitement. Krista hummed nervously. Killing a Titan was never easy, and a Variant even more so—but capturing one was impossible. Crazy. Just like Hanji. Krista sighed. The woman was literally drooling.

A quick hiss and the moan of grappling cable announced the arrival of Captain Levi to the wall top. Krista turned to him and pointed out at the approaching Titans. "They're coming fast, sir."

Levi stepped to the very edge of the wall and narrowed his bored eyes.

"Hmm...what's got them so riled up?" he muttered to himself, swiping a stray hair back to its appropriate place. Unlike his hair, however, the Titans wouldn't be so easily removed to their respectful spot. Especially with a Variant among them. The fifteen meter was no pushover either.

Another hiss and whine. Petra joined Levi at the wall's edge in a single long step. "Unusual for them to be clustered together like that, Captain," she said. "I don't like it."

"Mm." That was Levi's only response. His narrowed eyes never left the five Titans. A single hiss brought Oluo to a ready position right behind Krista, who was now slightly unnerved by the quickened pace of the Titans. Oluo swaggered over to Petra's side, grinning roguishly.

""I heard we have some fun headed our way. About time we tested that brat's inner freak in battle." He said, blowing his nose on his hand. Krista's eyes widened as they shot up to Levi's.

"Wait—we're going to let Eren...?"

"Are you getting lazy, Oluo? If you think you need Eren so much, why don't you go tell him so?" Levi interrupted, turning to drill Oluo with his intense stare. Oluo scowled in response.

Krista turned to watch the Titans again. They had rushed into a grove of giant trees less than fifty meters from the wall, only here and there appearing beneath the foliage.

"So are we going to capture the Variant for Hanji?" Petra asked. Levi barely nodded.

"Yes. Krista, get the new recruits. Oluo, Petra, follow me. Let's keep the Titans close." Without another word he leaped from the wall and triggered his ODM's gas, shooting off into the trees with Petra and Oluo close behind.

Eren wasn't shocked to hear about Titans outside the walls of the old Survey Corps fortress—skirmishes with the butt-ugly giants were almost an everyday occurrence now—but he was surprised when Krista told him and the other recruits about Hanji's shopping list. The list had only one item, but it was a complicated one: A Titan Variant—alive and in chains.

Eren had been dusting a hallway with Connie to appease Captain Levi's spotless tendencies when the news had reached them. Now, as the two rushed out of the keep's basement and into the inner courtyard, Mikasa and Armin joined them, donning their cloaks.

"Armin! Mikasa! You heard-?"

"They want all of us, Eren." Mikasa replied, running alongside him on the rough street.

"Do they have a plan for capturing the Variant?" Armin asked, panting.

"I—I don't know. Krista didn't say."

"I heard Levi and the rest of the Elite squad have already engaged the Titans!" Jean said, joining the group as they made it to the outer courtyard.

"What-?" Eren's question was interrupted by the hiss of grappling hooks as he and the others shot for the ramparts.

The minute his feet touched the wall top, Eren could hear the battle cries of the Elite squad in the forest below. For a moment, the symbol of the Wings of Freedom flashed above the foliage before the wearer disappeared beneath the thick branches again. In the next second, the head of a Titan peeked out of the forest, followed by the loud slicing of swords against the back of its neck. Blood soared for a moment before it fell to the earth along with the dead Titan who'd lost it.

_Another kill for Captain Levi. _

"Let's get down there!" Mikasa cried, and Eren leaped after her, followed by Armin, Connie, Jean and the rest of the newly arrived recruits. The minute he fired a grappling hook into the branch of one of the giant trees and soared forward, Krista flashed ahead ahead of him, cutting the approach of the recruits off with a wide swing.

The recruits followed her deeper into the forest as she yelled over the shrill wind. "Recruits! There are two ten meters, a fifteen meter and a Variant ahead! Our mission is to capture the Variant and bring it back to Hanji before more Titans arrive! Spread out and ready for combat!"

Eren drew his swords and triggered his thrust, shooting toward the glimpse of Titan legs ahead. Running Titan legs. The monsters were ignoring the Elite squad! A jerk of the hips brought Eren hurtling over a massive branch. He aimed for another one and fired off his left grappling hook at it. Suddenly one of the Titans plunged forward and rammed the branch, destroying it with only its body. It was the Variant!

Eren's grappling hook sunk into its arm and he was jerked at a neck-breaking speed toward it. Crying out, he tried to dislodge the hook with a quick burst of gas, but that only succeeded in drawing him closer to the Variant's wide-open mouth.

"Eren!" Mikasa shot down from a nearby branch, fired her hooks directly into the back of the Variant's head, and went straight for its neck, swords ready.

"Mikasa! No!" Eren screamed, flipping himself 360 degrees. He faced the sky and triggered his gas again, harder this time. Still his hook wouldn't break free! As his momentum halted, he found himself face-to-face with the Variant. Its wide grin infuriated him. Without warning, his old rage emerged, bringing with it the memory of his mother, struggling in the grip of the Titan who...

He struggled to control himself. He had to keep his head. Hanji wanted this Variant alive. He was a member of the Survey Corps. He'd fought with the Elite squad—been spared from lifelong imprisonment by Captain Levi himself. He couldn't let them down. If he was stuck to this thing, he might as well try and stall its progress.

"Hello there...," he finally said, the words sounding like something out of Hanji's mouth. He glared at the monster, but didn't have the time to say anything else. The Variant jerked its deformed arm back to keep up its momentum, and Eren was again yanked down. He tried to stay upright, but was twisted upside down until his hair skimmed the earth below. Then he was jerked up again.

As his world spun, he could barely make out the whirling form of Mikasa as she soared ahead of the Variant. Triggering her gas, she shot over the Titan while raking her blades across its head. Eren was flipped in midair and slammed into the Variant's chest as it jerked in a fleeting moment of pain

"Disconnect from it, Eren!" Armin's voice rattled in Eren's skull. His eyes dimmed as again he was plunged toward the earth. The Variant wasn't going to stop. Mikasa's attack had barely made it flinch—what could he do? Unless...he groped for what Armin had said and remembered just as his hair brushed the forest floor again.

He waited until the Variant's arm raised again and fumbled with his ODM gear. He had to disconnect, or he wouldn't be any use to anyone. He struggled with his hook connection, but it took only a second to realize it was locked in place. Jammed. And then...it wasn't. Another body struck Eren at top speed and his grappling hook broke free of the Variant's flesh. Connie.

In seconds, both of them were scrambling onto a high tree branch. Eren shook, unable to control his whirling vision.

"K'sa, Eren! You trying to get yourself killed?" Connie yelled, but Eren couldn't form words. The last thing he remembered was the sound of unfamiliar screaming.

"Captain Levi! Our scouts spotted more Titans coming this way, fast!" Oluo screamed over the boom of the falling corpse of the fifteen meter. Levi whirled in midair and shot one hook into a hanging branch above, landing just as Oluo did. "How many?"

"Dozens, from every direction!" Levi turned from watching Petra dispatch the last ten meter, noticing for the first time the horrific screaming coming from nearer the fortress. It wasn't quite human. It was just a little too loud. The Variant? Or another Titan? His eyes widened as he remembered the last time something like this had happened. The fight with the female Titan. Somewhere in this forest was a Titan-shifter—a human who could take the shape of humanity's greatest enemy.

Levi directed a hook at another branch about twenty meters ahead and fired it. "Get Petra. Follow me. We're going to find whoever is screaming and shut him up before he gets us all killed."

Mikasa shot past the Variant, slashing the tendons at its right heel apart. The running Titan stumbled and fell flat on its face, its weak point at the back of its neck fully exposed. Mikasa weaved over and under tree branches, gazing at her temporarily downed adversary. It would be up in seconds—the wound was already sealing—and seeing it exposed for a killing blow was so, so tempting. But Eren had been right. Seeing him dangling helplessly from the Variant's arm, Mikasa had almost lost her head.

She knew the entire reason they were risking their lives was to get that Variant home—but to her, Eren was home. No matter that he could handle himself—no matter the fact that he literally couldn't die even if he was eaten, Mikasa's instinct was to do whatever it took to make sure that didn't happen.

Eren had never talked about what it was like to be swallowed, how he had emerged from the inside of that Titan alive and more powerful than ever. Frankly, Mikasa was afraid to ask. It must have been more terrifying than she could imagine.

She swung onto a long, crooked branch, watching the downed Titan. Eren was safe now. Hopefully. At least he was out of the way. Now she could concentrate on the mission. She breathed, the Variant's blood dripping from her sword. This was what she was bred for.

Other recruits were perched similarly above the Variant, waiting for further command. In a spurt of gas propulsion, Armin shot straight across the clearing. In another movement, he was up beside Mikasa.

"We've got to hold it here until Captain Levi gets here," he said, eyes wide.

"He's not coming." Krista swept past. Mikasa hadn't even realized she'd been gone scouting. With a burst from her propulsion, Krista landed directly atop the Variant's head, bloody blades drawn at the back of its neck. She looked up at the assembled soldiers.

"The Elite squad is going to find the source of that screaming. While they are busy, we will protect this Variant until Hanji comes to take it home." The Titan wriggled underneath her and tried to crawl, but a quick slice to the inside of its right elbow ended any forward movement. Temporarily.

"Protect a Titan? From what?" It was Jean. Mikasa hadn't even realized he was a few branches above her. She could see his hard scowl even from where she was standing. His entire philosophy about Titans centered around killing them. Anything apart from that disgusted him.

Krista turned to look at Jean. "There are several more Titans headed this way fast. We think they're looking for the screamer. If Captain Levi is right, it could be another Titan-shifter like Eren. Where is he?" Mikasa glanced over at Connie, who was now slapping Eren on the face. Slowly her lifelong friend gained consciousness, and after a few hissed words from Connie, got to his feet and looked down at Krista.

"I'm here. There's another like the female Titan?"

"Yes. You have to join the Elite squad-now."

"Yes ma'am!" Eren shouted, dazed but determined as always. Mikasa shook her head. Once again, her attention would be halved between her situation and Eren's. What drove her crazy was how unaffected Eren was by it all.

The only reason Captain Levi would want him to join the Elites in a fight was for his 'Titan power' as they called it. How could Eren go on, himself one moment and a monster the next? How did he stay sane every time he had to jerk himself free of the Titan flesh he generated?

The hiss and whine of Eren shooting off toward the wall disrupted Mikasa's thoughts. She watched Eren disappear, her eyes following the distinctive Wings of Freedom on the back of his cloak—the symbol he had fought so hard to earn.

It was small compensation for the life of humanity's best hope.

They were too late. Captain Levi shot over a mammoth tree branch, staring down at the two ten meter Titans who were cannibalizing a downed fifteen meter in the midst of the clearing. The latter had only its arms, head and torso left—and that the ten meters were actively destroying. It was pounding the ground in apparent fury, evidently helpless to defend itself against the teeth of its kind. His. And the ten meters weren't his kind.

There was no doubt about it—this was a human in Titan form, screaming for help and inadvertently only calling more Titans to an unintended feast. The ten meters were already biting near the vulnerable fifteen meter's neck—and then all hopes for retrieving the human inside would be lost. Although Eren had somehow emerged from within a living Titan, no one really knew if that was an exception to the rule. Somehow, Levi wasn't convinced that Eren was totally invincible. Which only hardened his resolve to rescue this Titan-shifter.

More Titans were coming, and fast. Fifteen meters, ten meters, Variants, some in small groups of three, others alone, all intent on what Levi could only think of as their prey.

"Spread out! Keep them away from it!" The Captain ordered, shooting past one of the eating ten meters and in one motion killing it. Oluo took out the other one. Petra downed a third on the verge of the clearing, and Mike scored another nearby fifteen meter.

None of the Titans were paying them any attention, which made them vulnerable but also pressed Levi and his squad too hard for them to keep up. Soon, although more of the advanced Corps members joined the fight, the invading Titans were pressing in thickly around the flailing, half-eaten fifteen meter on the forest floor.

Within minutes, Levi himself was panting, sweating as he brought down Titan after Titan. Dozens of the grinning freaks corpses littered the forest floor, only to be trampled over by the mad dash of their own kind. For the first time, although his mind denied it, Levi wished Eren were here where his Titan power could be put to use.

"Captain Levi! I'm here!" Levi couldn't believe his luck. Above him, Eren was soaring into the clearing. Levi triggered his propulsion, landing on the nearest branch to Eren, who twisted and yanked his line to do the same.

"Eren. Can I trust you?" Levi said before Eren could ask. Eren shut his open mouth and set his jaw. Gritting his teeth, he jerked his tightened fist to his heart. "Yes sir!" Levi narrowed his eyes at his charge. "And can you control it?" Eren squeezed his eyes shut, sweat spilling down his strained face before he opened them, fiery and determined. "Yes!" he cried, unwavering in his salute. Levi nodded at the half-eaten fifteen meter below.

"Protect this one. I want him out alive." Eren nodded so hard Levi thought his head might pop off. Tension reaching a new high, Levi let his instinct take over. He tightened his fist. "Do it."

Eren turned, leaped off the tree branch, and in a blinding flash of something like lightning, was gone.

The thundering roar of Eren's transformation shook the new recruits, who were already tensed beyond what they thought they could handle.

"God, what's happening back there?" Connie mumbled to himself. Jean tensed his muscles, straining for calm in his situation. "I hate this. We can't stand here doing nothing while Eren and the others-" he clutched his sweating skull. "But if they shut that Titan-shifter up...if Eren can control himself..."

Armin listened to Jean, having come to the same conclusion minutes earlier. If the Titan-shifter stopped calling other Titans, the small army that were gathering would turn their focus on the Survey Corps again, and they could all die in this forest.

Armin wasn't sure if he should cheer for Eren, or hope he wouldn't succeed. Staring down at the Variant below, he was beginning to worry. Mikasa, Jean and Reiner had all taken turns handicapping the Titan, only for it to heal and start moving again in seconds. They couldn't keep it down forever. Even as he thought about it, the giant twisted onto its back and began wriggling away on its freakishly angled elbows.

"It's moving again!" Connie yelled, stating the obvious as was his wont. Armin watched the Variant, eyes widening. Until now, they'd been lucky. With the Titan facing down, all its weak points had been exposed. But now, its invulnerable front was facing the new recruits, its grinning mouth glistening with massive teeth that would bite them in two if they got too close.

Armin gritted his teeth, quaking, and gripped his swords tightly. He knew what he had to do, but he could only hope that he would be strong enough and quick enough. Without another thought, he leaped from his tree branch.

"Armin-!" Mikasa's voice followed him, but he couldn't stop now. Wind screamed all around him, freezing the sweat on his face as he hurtled toward the scrambling Variant. Armin had been in battle with the Titans before—in fact, if it weren't for Eren, he would have been in one's stomach—but he'd always lacked offensive capability, unlike Mikasa. Yet for some reason he couldn't explain, he had to handle this one on his own this time. Whether it was because he really had to or because he was afraid of being useless, he couldn't say.

The Variant's eyes met his. His momentum was carrying him straight for its mouth. Screaming at the last moment, Armin jerked his swords forward, loosing the blades from their handles in the same motion. The super-sharp weapons sliced the air for one shrill moment before lodging deeply in the Titan's eyes.

The Variant stopped instantly, opening its mouth wide for a deafening roar. Its breath broke on Armin like scalding water. He writhed in midair, aiming away from the Titan, and triggered his propulsion. Only the hiss of gas didn't come. With a cry, Armin fell directly into the Variant's open mouth, splitting his back on one of its teeth before lodging on its reeking tongue. He moved to stop his descent into its throat with his blades, only to realize he'd lost them both in the Variant's eyes already.

Choking on his own screams, he barely managed to make his brain function. Pure terror guided his every movement in a slow blur as he fell further into the Titan's mouth. He fired both grappling hooks in a last desperate attempt to escape, watching both sail agonizingly slow through the gap between the Variant's teeth and out into the now-blinding sunlight. Only one hook lodged itself in what Armin hoped was a tree. In the next second, he was jerked forward and rammed face first into the back of the Variant's teeth-pressed up against the rancid human-killing weapons,

Armin writhed, gibbering uncontrollably. How had this simple plan gone so wrong so quickly? The Titan opened its mouth slightly to scream again. Powerful hot breath and the yank of the hook propelled Armin just over the Variant's bottom row of teeth...and then, without warning, its top row closed on him.


	2. Chapter 2

Eren's eyes opened, but they weren't his. He sniffed, but not through his own nose. He felt lightheaded, delirious. His massive naked body quaked with something—fear? Cold? No, that couldn't be right...it was power. Raw, unharnessed power. But to do what? He thought back through the confusing swirl of faces, familiar and strange at once. There had been voices, words that he'd said. He'd been given a job—but what was it?

That was the moment he saw the wounded fifteen meter at his feet, clutching at the earth as two other fifteen meters grabbed it by its remaining arms. A man with bored, intense eyes and dark hair swooped past one of the fifteen meters, leaving behind a trail of blood from its neck. It fell. It was then that Eren remembered the two most important things: One, that he had to protect the half-eaten Titan-shifter, and two, that if he didn't, the man with the dark hair would kill him.

Petra had heard about the rampage Eren had gone on in Trost, had seen him generate half-formed Titan bodies—but this-his newly generated fifteen meter Titan form-had already succeeded in brutally crushing four other fifteen meters into the earth. Steam rose from the Titan corpses all around him as he roared, readying for a cluster of five ten meters coming his way.

Petra watched, shocked, as Eren's Titan grabbed two of the ten meters and literally ripped their heads off, destroying the weak spot on their necks in the same movement. In another heartbeat, he had brought another to its face at his feet.

Blood exploded from the back of the ten meter's neck as Eren stomped on it, over and over until there was nothing left to crush. Before Petra could recover from her astonishment, Eren had pounded the other two ten meters to pieces. It was not only surreal, but somehow unsettling, to watch a Titan destroy its own kind for humanity. It just didn't happen.

"Hey, Petra, are you going to help out or should we just give you a while to think about this?" Levi's voice brought her to the realization of her passive spectating for the first time. She could have killed herself with the guilt of knowing her friends were risking their lives while she stood there and watched. Without a word, she bolted off the branch she'd perched on and dove for the closest Titan, a hideous, fat five meter. It fell.

Spinning, she fired a hook into a ten meter's eye and jerked, swinging wide around its head before striking the killing blow. Another Titan went down, and another. Another. Petra shot back into the branches for a breath, scanning the clearing below. Even with Eren's help, there were so many Titans. Petra counted at least thirty, and more were coming. The downed fifteen meter was still screaming—that half-human, half-monster roar that had already almost deafened her to Levi's shouts.

She looked down at the screaming Titan-shifter. It had already regenerated itself down to the knees, thanks to Eren buying time. But even Eren had to tire eventually. Petra already was beginning to herself. And her propulsion was almost out of gas. She could think of only one way to stop the Titans coming: She had to cut the human out of the downed fifteen meter Titan. If she could get it to stop screaming...

She looked for Levi so he would be aware of her plan—but he was everywhere at once—spiraling, whirling, diving and slashing at anything Titan that moved. Petra didn't have time to wait. If she was going to try, now was her only chance. She dove into the clearing, hooked an overhanging branch, and jerked her body forward, swinging and disconnecting just above the Titan-shifter.

She landed on the screaming giant's head and leaped onto the back of its neck. If she remembered correctly, the new recruit, Armin, had recently done this same thing to cut Eren from his Titan form. Petra gritted her teeth. Whoever was inside was going to get hurt, but that wasn't her problem. She raised her swords, aimed them at the tough layer of flesh, and thrust down with all her might.

For a split second, the Titan-shifter silenced. In the next, it reared up on its hands and knees and howled up at the sky. Petra had all she could do to hang onto her buried blades as the monster writhed and jerked, trying to escape the pain. A glance down showed Petra that its legs were nearing full regeneration. There wasn't much time left, and she couldn't cut the human out of this thing in a completely vertical position.

A loud hiss. The sound of blades slicing flesh. Levi flashed past, blood pouring from his swords. The Titan-shifter almost crumbled, the nerves in its elbows completely slashed-but instead of falling flat on its face, it reeled back. It took a moment for Petra to realize the monster was falling. It took a second too many for her to realize it was falling on her.

Mikasa couldn't believe her eyes. A moment ago, everything had been under control—now the balance of her world was at the mercy of the variant Titan's jaws. The entire gathering of recruits had completely stopped, eyes locked on the scene below. Armin's eyes found her. And hers narrowed.

Screaming, she dove. The variant stared up at her, its grin widening. Armin struggled. Her blades cut the air. More screams followed her. Flashes of green and brown. Drawn swords. They fell together. They struck together.

Mikasa's blades split the Titan's neck. Jean buried his swords in its eyes. Connie brought a heavy blow across its jaw, followed by Sasha's quick strike to its crown. Mikasa bolted for Armin. Her arms closed around him, yanking him away...and he was free. She shot away from the variant, no longer caring about the battle, or the mission. She held Armin tightly until she had him secure in the branches above, away from the wild, reddening swords below.

It was only then that she noticed the blood. Armin's face had turned sheet white, his blue eyes staring straight ahead at nothing. An almost inch deep gash ran from his shoulder to his waist, and his left calf had also been cut open by the variant's teeth.

"Armin...," She choked, feeling his blood seep into the fabric of her clothes. She looked around frantically for something, anything to staunch the wound—but there was nothing. The only way she could save Armin was if she could get him back to the fortress.

It was at that moment of realization that the sound of stampeding Titans filled her ears.

Levi stopped in mid-swing, staring down at the now-silent Titan-shifter. Had that just happened? He'd seen more than his share of casualties—but Petra...why hadn't she moved? Why hadn't she...He hardened. Then, just as he was about to dive down at the Titan-shifter, it started to steam.

Surprised, Levi halted, watching the fifteen-meter Titan form begin to smoke away. With the screaming gone, the oncoming Titans had now turned their attention to the soldiers. Levi knew it wouldn't be long before he had casualties on his hands. He switched blades, noting that his elite squad had faltered just as he had, allowing the Titans to close in on the roaring Titan body of Eren. Suddenly, as the smoke from the downed Titan-shifter cleared, Levi caught something out of the corner of his eye—something moving.

Lost for words, Levi watched as Petra emerged, bloodied but alive, from the sizzling flesh of the fifteen meter, holding in her arms an unconscious...child. Somehow she had cut open the Titan's neck and pressed herself deep enough into its flesh that she'd survived its crushing weight—in less than a few seconds. And now she had the Titan-shifter himself in her arms.

Captain Levi gripped his sword handle with new vigor. "Elite squad! We have the shifter! Protect Petra and fall back to the wall! Gunter, take a few of us and get to the new recruits!" He disconnected his hooks and dropped, diving into combat once again. If this operation didn't end soon, his soldiers would be slipping in pieces down the throats of Titans—he could feel it.

The situation among the new recruits had slid into chaos. Mikasa knew the newly arriving swarm of Titans had to have something to do with the sudden absence of that deafening Titan-shifter screaming—but that knowledge didn't help at all.

Fact: Armin was dying—and the only way to save him lay within the walls of the fortress. Fact: At least a dozen Titans stood between him and the fortress—and more were coming. Someone screamed. Mikasa swiveled toward the sound, catching a glimpse of Jean and Connie diving for a ten meter, blades shining.

"Mikasa! Get Armin out of here! We'll hold these freaks off!" Jean roared. Mikasa caught her breath, watching as Connie distracted the ten-meter while Jean took it out from behind. More of the recruits were joining the fray. Mikasa swallowed, staring at her comrades, watching them soar to certain death as more Titans arrived. About twenty human rookies against at least that many Titans...judging by the average kill/death ratio..._No...they aren't going to make it!_

Mikasa narrowed her eyes and set her jaw. If she could secure Armin to the tree somehow...but he'd lost his 3DM gear in the Variant's mouth...without hesitation she looked up at a branch above and fired one of her grappling hooks into it. She looked down at her wounded friend. "There's only one way. I'm sorry Armin, this is going to hurt...!" She set Armin on his back, detached her grappling hook from its mechanism, and tied Armin tightly to the tree branch they were perched on with that end.

She turned, glaring at the Titans below, and readied to dive. A tug on her sleeve stopped her. Her eyes widened as she looked down. Armin was staring up at her, clearly distressed, struggling for words.

"No," He choked out, "Without this hook...gear's not...fully operational..." He struggled for air, rasping. "If I die...doesn't matter...but you—have to-" he pulled desperately at the cord and hook binding him, numbly trying to force Mikasa to take it. Mikasa gritted her teeth. Armin was right—without both grappling hooks, her mobility would be limited—but there was no other way to save her friend, or their comrades. She clenched her fist around her sword. "Stay here, Armin." With those words, she dove into the battle below.

She aimed for the closest Titan, a seven meter, and twisted, awkwardly shooting her lone hook into the flesh between its shoulders. She triggered her gas and swung wide, slicing the monster's jugular clean off. Twisting again to change directions, she yanked her hook free and thrust forward, using a ten meter as a springboard to get at a nearby fifteen meter.

_I know I can't kill them all. But if we can reduce their numbers, maybe I can get Armin out... _She plunged her swords deep into the fifteen meter's left eye, yanked them free, used her hook to swing around its back, and finished it off. Dodging another Titan's reaching hand, she shot away, feeling thin air roar around her as she glanced up into the tree where her dying friend was tied. _Hold on, Armin. We're going to..._

Something hit her. She gasped, the wind knocked out of her. Her vision blurred, and she was falling. Instinctively, she clumsily fired her grappling hook at the nearest tree, but the Titan that had hit her made another swipe, knocking her hook off course before grabbing its cord. Mikasa moved to fire off her other hook, too slowly becoming aware that she'd given it to Armin. The Titan, yanked her upward with a strength that nearly broke her spine. She writhed, trying in vain to get away. The Titan reached for her with its other hand, mouth opening wide...

She strained to understand what was happening to her. To think. Surely there was some way out of this situation—surely...she tore her eyes from the Titan's slobbering mouth and looked down at the deadly fall below her. If she disconnected her hook, she could die anyway. Her eyes flashed around the clearing, desperately looking for someone who could save her, take down this demon reaching to devour her, but everyone was too busy fighting their own battles

She tore her 3DM Gear free and let herself fall. Waiting for the impact was the longest moment of her life. She flailed, clawing for tree branches that weren't there. Numbness shot up her legs. She dropped uncontrollably, rolling across the hard earth before face-planting in the dirt, still clutching one shortened blade. She lay there, unmoving. For a moment, as the fifteen-meter Titan's rumbling footsteps drew closer, she considered giving in to the blackness gnawing at her consciousness. Then, her thoughts flashed to Armin. And Eren.

She clawed the dirt, scowling with fury, and pushed herself up shakily. Every part of her body screamed in pain—she couldn't even feel her right leg. Even so, she looked up, focusing on her second sword, which had fallen a few feet away. She was dimly aware of someone screaming her name. Jean. It didn't matter. No one was going to save her—or Armin. Only she could do that. If only she could reach her other sword. She didn't know why, but for some reason it seemed her entire existence was bound up in that blade—if she could just get it—if she could just fight...

_Thump._ Mikasa dragged herself painfully forward. _Thump. _She grunted, a lump in her throat. She swallowed. _Thump. _She reached for the sword. Then, something grabbed her from behind. It was the fifteen-meter. It had her in its fingers, pulling her away from her last hope...

Mikasa Ackerman threw her head back and screamed.


	3. Chapter 3

Eren crushed his eighteenth Titan kill into a pulp on the forest floor and roared, turning for another target. But the area was clear. The Elites had taken the Shifter away and were probably back at the fortress by now. Eren stopped. Not because he now had no target, but because he'd heard something—a voice. A familiar one, screaming. Somewhere, even deep inside the powerful, monstrous form he'd taken on, Eren felt fear rattle him to his core. The scream had come from Mikasa.

Eren ran. He ran like he'd never run in his life, smashing fallen Titans, felling the giant trees around him as though they were prison bars keeping him from freedom. In seconds, he could see Titans ahead—dozens of them. He was only just aware of the other 104th recruits hacking away at the giants, flitting here and there like flies begging to be squashed by their foes. But Eren couldn't see Mikasa, or Armin. He ran faster, terror filling his lungs. _Where are my friends, you demons?! _

He leaped into the clearing, roaring. The 104th recruits fled in surprise, swinging into the trees. But one was left behind, struggling in the filthy hand of a fifteen meter. _Mikasa. _Eren took one bound, ignoring all other Titans, and struck, splitting the arm of the fifteen meter in half. Mikasa yelled as she fell, the limp hand releasing her. Eren caught her, lifted her into the tree branches, and turned on the fifteen meter, screaming his challenge at the assembled Titans.

They roared back, hideous, toothy grins never fading, closing in as the fifteen-meter steamed from its severed limb. Eren clenched his massive, bloodied fists and struck again.

"It's Eren!" Someone shouted it, but Mikasa didn't care who. The realization had come to her the moment she'd heard that enraged roar. Eren had saved her again. She felt lightheaded and numb, both physically and mentally. She couldn't feel any pain where she knew there should be. Eren had set her down on a thick branch high above Titan reach, but she'd collapsed when she put weight on her right leg, barely clinging to the tree with her weak arms. She let a second pass—a second filled with the horrible noise of Titan battling Titan below—and took a deep breath.

Forcing her arms to comply, she stood on her left leg, which did hurt. A lot. She fumbled to keep her balance, only then realizing she was still clutching her shortened sword. Suddenly everything quieted. The battle below was a mere echo as she stared at the bloodied sword in her hand. The blade was short, useless perhaps. It was just a broken sword—and yet, it seemed to symbolize so much more. Even broken, it was still a weapon. It could still fight.

Mikasa looked down at the carnage below. Her fifteen-meter attacker was dead, trampled into a bloody pulp by Eren. Two other Titans were well on their way to joining it. But Eren was growing tired; she could tell by his subtly labored movements, the punches he threw that were usually much more powerful. A fourteen-meter got hold of him and sunk its teeth into his flesh.

Mikasa snapped. Why was she standing there uselessly, watching family battle in her name? She had to get down there, had to help Eren. She needed to fight.

A hiss. Jean landed beside her, swords dripping Titan blood. "Mikasa! Are you-?"

"Jean, I need your gear."

"Wha-? But-" Jean sputtered, then stopped. He glanced from Eren's butt-ugly Titan form below to Mikasa, then narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

Mikasa drilled him with an intense stare that was not to be argued with.

Jean cursed and began removing his gear.

"Mikasa!" Sasha, calling her name over the din of Titan battle below. Mikasa followed the voice while putting Jean's gear on. Sasha was across the clearing, standing over the tightly secured Armin. Mikasa could tell even from this distance that the Potato-Girl was distressed. A terrible chill of fear swept over Mikasa. She finished setting her gear and clutched her sword tighter than before. "What? What happened?" She demanded. Sasha choked.

"Armin—he's-"

Mikasa shot across the clearing.

Eren weakly finished off his twenty-third Titan kill, the seven-meter who'd bitten him. He knew he couldn't go on much longer. He turned, swinging his fist wide and bringing it down on the skull of a seven meter. It fell, crushed, and Eren kicked the nape of what was left of its neck, sending flesh and gore flying. Then he stumbled. He fell onto his knee, feeling his Titan-heat cool. _I'm weak. Why am I so... _Titan teeth sank into his shoulder, tore. Agony. Eren arched his back in pain. Another set of teeth took hold of his other arm, and another, and another...

Eren lowered his head, allowing the Titans to overwhelm him. He had no clear goal, no reason to keep fighting. He'd managed more kills this time around than in the rampage he'd gone on in Trost. He'd protected Levi and the others long enough for them to get the Shifter away. He'd saved Mikasa. Wasn't that enough? Surely Levi and the Elites would be back soon. They'd finish off these Titans. Eren blinked slowly, exhausted. He'd done enough. He felt his mind distancing itself from the Titan form he'd created. It was just a blob of flesh that he could remake anyway, right? The Titans were free to eat it if they pleased...

Then, he saw Armin. For a moment, all he saw was his friend's eyes, wide and blue as those salty bodies of water he'd said were outside the Walls. Then he noticed the blood. The deep cuts. Made by Titan teeth. And he realized that Armin's eyes were seeing nothing.

Eren paused, unable to believe what he was seeing. Armin couldn't be dead. They were best friends. They'd grown up together! He was too young, too brilliant, and braver than Eren himself had ever felt. He couldn't die. And yet, there he was, with Mikasa and Sasha both standing over him, eyes full of tears.

Memories flooded Eren's mind. He and Armin learning about the outside world together. Eren and Mikasa protecting him from the cowards who'd bullied him. Armin joining the 104th, then the Survey Corps, because of Eren. Then came the other memories. It started with the people he barely had known, those who'd fallen in battle—some because of him. Next, it was Thomas, caught in the jaws of an Abnormal in Trost. Mitabi. Mina. Marco. Eren himself. And then, at the very root of it all...his mother, struggling in the fist of that hideous, grinning Titan who'd...eaten her...alive...

_I'm going to kill...every...last...one of you! _An explosion of power rushed through Eren. Steam blew off of him, regenerating his half-eaten arms so quickly it sent the Titans stumbling backward. He stood. There would be no control this time—no humanity—no need for goals. This time he would give over completely to his Titan form. The hatred in his heart went beyond simple rage—it was now his sole reason to live. He was no longer Eren, a powerless human in Titan form. He was a monster that would give the Titans nightmares and send them fleeing to the edge of the outside world and beyond. _I'll wipe them from the face of this world. I swear it, Armin! You...will be...avenged!_

He was wreathed in flame, burning himself with the sheer power he possessed. He let himself go, and remembered no more.

Levi watched as Oluo and Mike chained the unconscious Shifter to one of the prison cell walls in the basement of the fortress, Hange giggling all the while. The Shifter was no older than eight—short, blond-haired and pale. Nothing special about him—except that he could turn into a man-eating monster.

Levi laid aside his curiosity about this new Shifter and turned for the hundredth time to Petra, who had sat down shakily in the corner. She was a mess—covered in Titan blood—but alive and unbroken...and beautiful. Even so, there was no way he was sending her out again. She was exhausted and had barely survived her ordeal under the weight of the sizzling Titan form.

Nevertheless, Levi had to get out there to help the new recruits. He trusted Gunter, but considering the amount of Titans amassed in the Forest...

Levi stood from his seat across from Petra and turned to the door of the basement, gesturing Mike and Oluo to follow.

"Where are you going?" Hange asked. Levi kept walking.

"The new recruits have a Variant pinned down in the Forest. That was the point of this mission in the first place, wasn't it, Hange?"

Hange squealed with glee. "Could it be? Am I going to get another Shifter _and _a Variant?"

Levi reached the door and opened it, flanked by Oluo and Mike. "Provided you can protect them better than you did the last ones," he said, and started up the stairs with his two comrades behind him.

By the time they reached the courtyard, a deafening noise filled their ears. Levi stopped. It was Eren—Eren's Titan form, roaring—but not like he'd ever heard before. It was louder than ever—pained.

Oluo coughed. "I don't like the sound of that..."

"Let's get out there!" Levi ordered. The three Scouts shot off over the ramparts and into the Forest.

Mikasa held her childhood friend in her arms. Armin. Dead. His eyes stared at the tree branches above, unmoving. Blue and wide as they'd always been—so full of life, even in death. Mikasa didn't have the heart to close them—it was as if she herself would be blinding him to the life he'd left behind.

It didn't matter that Sasha was standing beside her, watching. It didn't matter that Titan blood was flying all around from Eren's rampage. All that mattered was the limp body in her arms—and the realization that she'd failed him.

"Armin-" She pulled him closer to her chest and rested her face in his hair, tears welling in her eyes. "I'm—s-so...sorry-" She let the tears roll down her cheeks, soaking the blond hair of a friend who'd died as selflessly and bravely as he'd lived. Then, she remembered the blade in her hand.

Levi swooped in over the clearing, allowing himself a brief moment to take in the carnage. Over twenty dead Titans, steaming away or already mere shattered bones beneath the—thing-that Eren had become. Yeager no longer seemed to be a mere fifteen-meter Titan with fighting techniques. He was a demon—a blazing, roaring, demon from hell. Even Levi had to admit, he was glad the demon was on their side. Provided he still was. At the moment, Levi couldn't be sure a human still existed within that hulking, burning mass of flesh.

He scanned the clearing, taking note of the number of Titans remaining and their positions. About six of them left, not including the Variant, which...Levi narrowed his eyes. The Variant was getting up, headed straight for Eren. Levi fired his grappling hooks into the trees below and triggered his propulsion. "Attack from separate points!" he ordered over the shriek of wind. "Keep the Variant away from Eren!" _Or Eren away from the Variant. _He thought. However, judging by Eren's current condition, that option seemed much less possible.

Mikasa watched as the Elites, led by Levi, arrived on the scene, attempting vainly to herd Eren away from the Variant. It didn't matter. They couldn't stop him. Mikasa knew what could, though. At least, she hoped it could. Herself. And if Eren didn't control himself...no, of course he would. She was family! Even so, the sheer hatred in the glowing eyes of the monster he'd become...Mikasa looked down, into Armin's eyes, and knew she had no choice. Not that it mattered what happened to her, anyway.

She laid Armin down gently and stood, leaning on the tree for support. She clutched her broken blade, aimed for the Variant below and triggered her propulsion. She fired Jean's grappling hooks into the back of the Variant, yanked. Instant agony shot up her right leg. She arched her back in pain, throwing her off course. She barely managed to grit her teeth and fight through the pain, redirecting her aim and shooting for the back of the Variant's knees.

In a double move that would have put Captain Levi to shame, she sliced the tendons keeping the Titan upright. It stumbled backward, twisted and attempted to catch its fall, but Mikasa was too quick. Lightning pain shooting through her body all the while, she changed directions at breakneck speed and shot forward, hacking away the Variant's shoulder muscles. It was crippled. Mikasa landed on the back of its head and turned. Eren had just killed his last Titan, leaving only the Variant to his rampage. Mikasa swallowed, barely keeping upright on her one good leg.

The Elites shouted a hundred curses and orders, flitting about Eren like flies. Levi's blades were naked, poised to cut Eren free of his Titan form. Eren kept running, directly toward Mikasa and the Variant, roaring. He reached them. Mikasa raised her shard of a sword at him, staring directly into those glowing blue eyes full of so much hatred it took her breath away. Eren roared at her. His steam whipped through her hair—she could feel the heat of his burning even from her perch on the Variant.

Mikasa didn't move, didn't flinch. She held her sword steady and kept her eyes on his. He raised his hand, ready to finish the Variant who'd killed Armin. "You going to kill me, Eren?" Mikasa asked.

Eren clenched his fist. "You're going to make Armin's death meaningless? Eren!" Mikasa shouted, glaring at him even though she was terrified he was going to kill her. Eren roared, his wide, toothy mouth soaked in Titan blood. His fist tightened so much that his fingertips broke the flesh of his palm and impaled his own hand. He threw back his head, roaring so that all other sound in the world was blotted out. And then, he turned and ran.

Mikasa's eyes widened. In seconds, Eren was gone, rushing deep into the Forest and leaving even Levi behind. There was a deafening silence louder than any roar Eren could have ever uttered. And in that moment, Mikasa knew she was alone in the world. "Eren-"

She stumbled off of the Variant onto the blood-soaked ground full of steaming Titan corpses, hopping lamely after her only family in the world. She reached out her hand after his disappearing silhouette of flame receding into the trees. Then he was gone. Mikasa fell to her knees, the pain in her leg no longer seeming to exist. Her blurred vision spotted something shining in the midst of all the carnage, gleaming silver among the red. She crawled toward it, ears ringing, and touched it shakily. Armin's gear.

_Armin..._She lifted her eyes to the blinding sunlight filtering through the trees, beautiful even among all this cruelty. Figures moved in the branches above. The Elites, responding to Levi's commands. The other trainees, too stunned to move. Tears swelled and burst from Mikasa's eyes. "Eren-"

She blacked out to the echoes of his final roar.

It had been two days, and still Hange hadn't offered any thanks for the Variant Levi had brought back along with the surviving Scouts. Gunter was not among them. Levi found his cloak, bloodied and mashed, among the ruins of he and the men he'd taken to help the 104th recruits. The cluster of Titans who'd done the deed were destroyed by Eren long before Levi arrived on the scene.

Eren. Levi had thought of him ever since. The kid was gone. The monster was free, roaming the land, massacring Titans. A rogue avenger, let loose on the wild. Levi couldn't help but feel a little disgusted by the betrayal. Such a powerful ally—humanity's best hope, really, gone just like that. The idiot had turned and run off. It didn't matter how many Titans he killed—he wouldn't be much use to humanity on his own.

The new Shifter was a poor replacement. The child had slept most of the time, and woken only for brief moments to glare silently at the people around him. The kid didn't have Eren's drive, or strength. Levi knew that just by the look in his eye.

All activity in the fortress had slowed as everyone recovered. The 104th trainees had been set to work cleaning, for the sole purpose of giving them something to do. Levi found that always helped. Other than Gunter and his squad, there hadn't been many casualties; three total among the recruits. Two Levi hadn't known. Eren's intellectual friend had bled to death after being rescued from Titan jaws. The Ackerman girl had been with the medics ever since, eyes looking but not really seeing anything. No cries of pain when she'd had her broken leg reset, just a grim determination in her eyes.

Levi shook his head, wondering. Had he been like that once? So invested in people? Or had he always had this ability to walk away from loss so easily? He got up from the couch in his private chamber and walked down the staircase leading to the mess hall, thinking deeply.

If Eren was gone, how would the rest of Erwin's grand plans be accomplished? Levi wasn't fully aware of the extent of those plans, but it was Erwin—he knew he had them. What were they going to do about the Female Titan? Was that girlish cur out there, hunting down humanity's best hope even now? That stopped Levi in his tracks. They had to find Eren. They had to bring him back. For the first time in Human history, because of Eren, their was hope for victory. They couldn't lose that hope, or humanity would all be mere Titan food.

And Levi was definitely not going to be food. He set his jaw and walked into the hall, where the rest of the Elites were relaxing. Petra looked up at him. "I know that look. What is it, Levi?"

Levi leaned on the table, for once standing over his comrades. Barely. He opened his mouth to speak, but just then Krista Lenz burst into the hall.

"Captain Levi!" She shouted, "The Female Titan has been spotted! And-!"

Levi stood straight, stiffening. He raised an eyebrow. "-And?"

Krista swallowed, then finished, eyes wide: "-And Mikasa and Jean are gone!"

Levi sighed. He should have known. That look on Ackerman's face hadn't been the simple will to survive. She was going after Eren.

"What does that mean, Captain?" Petra asked.

"It means, Petra," said Levi, "That we're going hunting."


End file.
